Rathjen leads Lansing tennis to fourth place finish at Mill Valley

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By Times Report

The Leavenworth Times - Leavenworth, KS

By Times Report

Posted Sep. 23, 2013 at 6:21 PM

By Times Report
Posted Sep. 23, 2013 at 6:21 PM

After going 11-7 as a team, Lansing tennis finished fourth out of 10 schools at the Mill Valley Invitational on Saturday. “We also finished fourth last year when there were only eight schools, and that team included four seniors,” said head coach Edward Fenton. “For us to take fourth with such a young group is really promising.” Sophomore Katie Rathjen went 4-1 in No. 1 singles on the way to a second place finish. She picked up wins over Bonner Springs, Immaculata, St. Thomas Aquinas and Mill Valley. The lone loss was to Maranatha. “Katie really helped herself out with wins over Aquinas and Mill Valley,” Fenton said. “We should see both of them at regionals, so it's really important to have a direct win over both of those schools.” In No. 2 singles, freshman Colby Mortensen went 1-3 with a win over Bonner Springs and losses to Immaculata, Aquinas and Mill Valley. “Today I saw Katie and Colby play patient and smart matches,” Fenton said. The No. 1 doubles team of junior Sydney Chiles and freshman Rachel Long went 2-2 with wins over Immaculata and Mill Valley, and losses to Bonner Springs and Aquinas. The No. 2 doubles team got wins over Bonner Springs, Immaculata, Mill Valley and Pittsburg on the way to a third place finish. Their only loss on the day was against Aquinas. “Both of our doubles squads are doing a better job of working as a team, and they're starting to think about the points instead of just reacting to the team across from them,” Fenton said. Lansing's next match is in De Soto for the Wildcat Invitational at 9 a.m. on Saturday.